Method and apparatus for providing and receiving contents via network, method and apparatus for backing up data via network, backup data providing device, and backup system

ABSTRACT

Provided are methods and apparatuses for providing contents via a network, in which original data of contents provided via a network can be traced, and contents that are modified according to performance of a contents receiving device is provided. Location information of original contents is added to metadata of contents provided via the network to thereby increase convenience of access to the original contents and modify attributes of contents that are provided, to be suitable for the performance of the contents receiving device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/861,554, filed Aug. 23, 2010, which claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No.10-2009-0077875, filed on Aug. 21, 2009, Korean Patent Application No.10-2009-0104663, filed on Oct. 30, 2009, and Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 10-2009-0104664, filed on Oct. 30, 2009, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention generally relates to methods and apparatuses forproviding contents via a network, and more particularly, to methods andapparatuses for providing contents via a network, in which original dataof the contents may be provided via the network for use. The presentinvention further relates to a method and apparatus for efficientlybacking up data to a plurality of storage devices connected via anetwork, a backup data providing device, and a backup system.

2. Description of the Related Art

The term “contents” generally refers to various data such as characters,symbols, voice, images, or videos used via wired or wireless networks.Due to the development of information technology such as that providedby the Internet, digital cameras, and mobile phones, meaningfulinformation has been made available much quicker than conventionalmedia, and people are able to share their own contents with other usersvia communication networks.

Contents may be shared by users who are interconnected via networks byusing various methods, for example, via a webpage, a blog or a webzinein a notice board format. In general, contents represented on a webpageare transcoded or resized to a suitable format for the webpage andprovided to other users via a network. For example, when a user presentshis/her photographs through a blog, the user edits the photographs byreducing a size or capacity of the original photographs so as to uploadthem on the blog.

However, according to conventional methods, contents provided via anetwork might be different from the original contents, and those wantingto use original contents may have difficulty in using the originalcontents.

Recently, various content receiving devices have become available whichinclude Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), smartphones, PortableMultimedia Players (PMP), netbooks, and the like. Since these contentreceiving devices operate differently due to differences in resolutionor available codecs, the performance of the devices needs to beconsidered when providing contents to the various types of contentreceiving devices.

Recently, with increasing demands for better hardware performance andhigher quality data, various types of devices, including cameras,camcorders, PCs, netbooks, smartphones, and PVRs (Personal VideoRecorders) are now able to process larger sized data. Though the advancein memory technology has increased the storage capacities of suchdevices, the size of moving picture data or audio data is still high inconsideration of the limited data storage capacity of the devices.

SUMMARY

The embodiments of the present invention provide methods and apparatusesfor providing contents via a network in which convenience of accessingoriginal contents is increased by providing location information of theoriginal contents, and methods and apparatuses for receiving thecontents.

The embodiments of the present invention also provide methods andapparatuses for modifying contents to be suitable for performance of acontent receiving device and providing the modified contents.

The embodiments of the present invention further provide a data backupmethod and apparatus for backing up data stored in a certain device to astorage device connected to the device via a network. In particular, theembodiments provide a method and apparatus for efficiently backing updata by using another storage device connected via a network when aparticular data storage device connected to the network is unavailableto back up data.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided acontent providing method performed via a network, the method includingstoring original contents in a predetermined storage device; modifyingattributes of the original contents to generate modified contents;generating metadata including location information of the storage devicein which the original contents are stored; and providing the modifiedcontents and the metadata to a device interconnected via the network.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda content receiving method performed via a network, the method includingreceiving predetermined contents; extracting location information oforiginal contents from metadata of the contents; and receiving theoriginal contents from a predetermined storage device interconnected viathe network, using the extracted location information of the originalcontents.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda content providing device for providing contents via a network, thedevice including an original content modifying unit that modifiesattributes of original contents to generate modified contents; ametadata generating unit that generates metadata including locationinformation of a predetermined storage device in which the originalcontents are stored; and a content providing unit that provides themodified contents and the metadata to a device interconnected via thenetwork.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda content receiving device for receiving contents via a network, thedevice including a content receiving unit that receives predeterminedcontents; and an additional data extracting unit that extracts locationinformation of original contents from metadata of the contents, whereinthe content receiving unit receives the original contents from apredetermined storage device interconnected via the network by using theextracted location information of the original contents.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda content providing method performed via a network, the method includingobtaining status information of a device to which contents are to betransferred; modifying attributes of the contents that are to beprovided to the device by using the status information of the device;and providing the modified contents to the device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda content providing device for providing contents via a network, thedevice including a contents storing unit that stores predeterminedcontents; a communication unit that receives status information of adevice to which the contents are to be transferred; a device informationstoring unit that stores the received status information of the device;and a content modifying unit that modifies attributes of the contentsthat are to be provided to the device by using the status information ofthe device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda content receiving method performed via a network, the method includingselecting contents to be received, among contents provided by apredetermined content providing device; transmitting status informationof a device that receives the content, to the contents providing device;and receiving contents with attributes modified according to the statusinformation of the device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda content receiving device for receiving contents via a network, thedevice including a user interface via which contents to be receivedamong contents provided by a predetermined content providing device isselected; and a communication unit that transmits status information ofa device that receives the contents, to the content providing device,and receives contents with attributes modified according to the statusinformation of the device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda data backup method via a network, including determining whether afirst storage device connected to a data providing device via a networkis available to store data; transferring the data stored in the dataproviding device to a second storage device that is connected via thenetwork and is available to store the data, if the first storage deviceis unavailable to store the data; storing the transferred data in thesecond storage device; and determining whether the first storage deviceis available to store the data and transferring the data stored in thesecond storage device to the first storage device to store the data inthe first storage device if the first storage device is available tostore the data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda data backup system via a network, including a data providing deviceproviding backup data; a plurality of storage devices connected to thedata providing device via the network; and a backup control unit thatcontrols the operations of determining whether a first storage deviceselected from among the plurality of storage devices is available tostore the backup data, storing the backup data provided by the dataproviding device in a second storage device selected from among theplurality of storage devices if the first storage device is unavailableto store the backup data; and transferring and storing the backup datastored in the second storage device in the first storage device if thefirst storage device becomes available to store the backup data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda data providing device including a communication unit that communicateswith a plurality of storage devices connected via a network; a storageunit that stores backup data; and a control unit that controls theoperations of determining whether a first storage device selected fromamong the plurality of storage devices is available to store the backupdata, and transferring the backup data stored in the storage unit to asecond storage device selected from among the plurality of storagedevices via the communication unit if the first storage device isunavailable to store the backup data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda data backup system including a communication unit that communicateswith at least one data storage device and a data providing deviceconnected via a network; a storage unit that stores data provided viathe communication unit; and a control unit that controls the operationsof receiving and storing data provided by the data storage device in thestorage unit if the at least one data storage device is unavailable tostore the data, determining whether the at least one data storage deviceis available to store the data, and transferring the data stored in thestorage unit to the at least one data storage device via thecommunication unit if the at least one storage data device becomesavailable to store the data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda data backup system including a communication unit that communicateswith at least one storage device and a data providing device connectedvia a network; a storage unit that stores data provided via thecommunication unit; and a control unit that controls the operation ofnotifying the at least one storage device and the data providing devicevia the communication unit that the storage unit is unavailable to storethe data provided by one of the at least storage device and the dataproviding device, notifying the at least one storage device and the dataproviding device via the communication unit that the storage unit isavailable to store the data, and storing the data provided via thecommunication unit in the storage unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail embodiments thereofwith reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a content sharing system thatoperates via a network, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the content providing device ofFIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining a first process of an original contentmodifying unit of FIG. 2 for modifying attributes of original contents,according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating metadata according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a content receiving deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a process of receiving original contents,according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a content receiving method accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a process in which originalcontents are provided in a content sharing system, according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a content sharing system thatoperates via a network, according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating device status information of a contentreceiving device, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12A through 12D illustrate a process in which contents arereceived according to device status information of a content receivingdevice, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method accordingto another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a content receiving method accordingto another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view illustrating a data backup system forbacking up data via a network, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 16 illustrates the structure of a data backup system according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a data backupmethod by which data is backed up to a network server of a data backupsystem;

FIG. 18 illustrates the structure of a data backup system according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram illustrating a data backup process by a dataproviding device of a data backup system, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 20 illustrates the structure of a data backup system according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram illustrating a data backup process by astorage device of a data backup system, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 22 illustrates the structure of a data providing device accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention areshown.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a contents sharing system 100that operates via a network, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the content sharing system 100 includes a contentproviding device 110, a storage device 120, and a content receivingdevice 130, which are interconnected via a predetermined network 140.

The content providing device 110 and the content receiving device 130may be any of a variety of devices supporting various types of wired orwireless networks 140, for example, a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP),an Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC), a laptop computer, a mobilephone, a digital camera, or a Personal Computer (PC). Also, the contentproviding device 110, the storage device 120, and the content receivingdevice 130 may be client devices constituting a home network systemconnected to a controller such as a home gate or a home server. Forexample, the content providing device 110, the storage device 120, andthe content receiving device 130 may be devices interconnected via thenetwork 140 complying with a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)standard for the control of home electronic appliances to sharecontents.

The network 140 comprises one of a short-distance network and along-distance network. The network 140 may use a wireless Internetscheme such as Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, Wireless Broadband (WiBro), Ultra WideBand (UWB), or the like, or a wired Internet scheme such as Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394, Ethernet, etc.

The storage device 120 is a network storage device for storing originalcontents. The storage device 120 may be a storage device accessible viaa network. For example, the storage device 120 may be a Network AttachedStorage (NAS). Although in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the storage device120 storing the original contents is separated from the contentproviding device 110, the storage device 120 may be integrated with thecontent providing device 110.

The content providing device 110 modifies attributes of originalcontents stored in the storage device 120 to produce modified contents,and generates location information of the storage device 120 asmetadata.

The content receiving device 130 extracts location information of thestorage device 120 in which the original contents are stored, from themodified contents and metadata provided by the content providing device110, and accesses the storage device 120 to receive original contents.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a content providing device 210illustrated in FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the content providing device 210 includes anoriginal content modifying unit 211, a metadata generating unit 212, anda content providing unit 213.

The original content modifying unit 211 modifies attributes of originalcontents stored in the storage device 120, to which the original contentmodifying unit 211 is connected via a network as illustrated in FIG. 1,to generate modified contents.

For example, when sharing contents by uploading the contents via awebpage like a blog, a capacity of attached files supported by thewebpage may be limited or a lot of time may be required for uploading.Accordingly, to efficiently provide contents on the webpage, theoriginal content modifying unit 211 reduces the capacity of the originalcontents. As another example, when providing a photographic image havinga high resolution to the content receiving device 130 having a limitedresolution, such as a PMP or a mobile phone, the original contentmodifying unit 211 resizes an original image in consideration of astorage capacity or a resolution of the content receiving device 130 togenerate a modified image.

FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining a process of the original contentmodifying unit 211 illustrated in FIG. 2 for modifying attributes oforiginal contents, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, for example, when a resolution of an original image310 corresponding to original contents is 2592.times.1944, the originalcontent modifying unit 211 resizes the original image 310 to generatemodified images such as an image 311 having a resolution of1920.times.1980, an image 312 having a resolution of 1024.times.768, animage 313 having a resolution of 800.times.480, or an image 314 having aresolution of 400.times.240. Resolutions of images to be uploaded to aparticular webpage may be limited, and thus the original contentmodifying unit 211 modifies a resolution of an original image to anappropriate resolution as illustrated in FIG. 3, according to image fileresolutions supported by the webpage, on which the contents are to beprovided, to generate modified images.

The original content modifying unit 211 resizes original contents togenerate small-capacity contents if the storage capacity of the contentsreceiving device 130 interconnected via the network 140 is insufficientor the resolution supported by the webpage is lower than that of theoriginal contents. For example, when the content receiving device 130 isa mobile phone, and a display of the mobile phone has a maximumresolution of 800.times.480, the original content modifying unit 211resizes an original image to a 800.times.480 image that is optimized fora display of the mobile phone.

When the original contents are a video file, and the content receivingdevice 130 does not support a codec that is used in encoding the videofile, the original content modifying unit 211 transcodes the originalvideo file to generate another video file having a video codec formatthat is supported by the content receiving device 130.

Meanwhile, as described above, the content providing device 210 mayallow attributes of contents to be automatically modified according tothe storage capacity or the resolution of the contents receiving device130, or a user to select a method of modifying attributes of originalcontents via a user interface (not shown). For example, resolutioninformation of an original image and available resolutions to modify theoriginal image may be displayed via the user interface, and the user mayselect to modify the original image to have a desired resolution.

The metadata generating unit 212 generates metadata including locationinformation of the storage device 120 in which the original contents arestored.

The content providing unit 213 provides the modified contents andmetadata to a device that is interconnected via a network.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating metadata according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the metadata according to the current embodiment ofthe present invention includes contents metadata, device metadata, anduser metadata.

The contents metadata includes a contents ID, original contents locationinformation, and original contents access rights information.

The contents ID is used to identify the types of contents that areshared via a network. The original contents location information islocation information of the storage device 120 in which originalcontents are stored, which may be in a Universal Resource Locator (URL)format. In detail, the original contents location information includes aprotocol and a storage path of the original contents. For example, theoriginal contents location information may be represented as a formatsuch as “protocol://′location of a storage device storing the originalcontents.′” For example, if a location of the storage device 120 isrepresented as “http://www.samsung.com/private_contents”, the URLinformation may be added to metadata as original contents locationinformation.

The original contents access rights information is used to preventoriginal contents from being shared by any user. For example, theabove-described original contents location information may be encoded,and encoding key information for decoding the encoded original contentslocation information may be the original contents access rightsinformation. The device metadata refers to information about transferhistory details when modified contents are transferred between differentdevices. For example, when modified contents are transferred from afirst device (Device ID=1) via a second device (Device ID=2) to a thirddevice (Device ID=3), device metadata of the modified contents stored inthe third device may include ID information of the first device and thesecond device which denote paths the contents has passed. As such,contents transfer paths and flows of illegal contents may be traced byusing the device metadata.

The user metadata includes editing history and account information.Editing history includes information about edited details of themodified contents. For example, in the case of resized image contents,editing history metadata thereof may include size information of anoriginal image and information about modified details of the originalimage. In the case of a transcoded video file contents, editing historymetadata thereof may include codec information of an original videofile. The account information denotes identification information of theuser who provides the contents. For example, in the case of contentsprovided to a particular web bulletin board, account information thereofmay be ID information of a user who uploaded the corresponding contentsto the web bulletin board.

As described above, the content providing device 210 according to thecurrent embodiment of the present invention includes locationinformation of the original contents of the modified contents, in themetadata, and thus other devices that share the modified contents via anetwork may easily access the original contents by using the locationinformation of the metadata.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a content receiving device 500according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the content receiving device 500 includes a contentreceiving unit 510, an additional data extracting unit 520, an inputunit 530, and a control unit 540.

The content receiving unit 510 is a communication module that performsdata communication with other devices that are connected to a networkand receives contents that are shared via the network.

The additional data extracting unit 520 extracts additional data of thereceived contents as illustrated above in FIG. 4 from metadata of thereceived contents. The additional data extracting unit 520 extractslocation information of original contents from the metadata of thereceived contents, and the user selects whether to receive the originalcontents as necessary via the input unit 530 to allow receiving of theoriginal contents. The control unit 540 controls operations of each ofelements of the content receiving device 500.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a process of receiving original contents,according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 6A and 6B,a mobile phone 600 that supports a network connection is illustrated asa content receiving device.

Referring to FIG. 6A, when the mobile phone 600 supporting the networkconnection is connected via a network such as a Wi-Fi network to apredetermined webpage that provides contents, contents lists 621 through624 are shown on a display unit 610 of the mobile phone 600. Referringto FIG. 6B, when the user selects one of contents on the contents lists621 through 624 via an input unit 630 or by touching a desired contentsregion on the mobile phone 600 if the mobile phone 600 supports touchrecognition, data 625 for inquiring whether the user wants to receiveoriginal contents is shown via the display unit 610, and the userselects whether to receive original contents via a selection interface626 or 627.

When the user chooses to receive the original contents, the contentsreceiving unit 510 requests a storage device, in which the originalcontents are stored, to transfer the original contents, by using thelocation information of the original contents, extracted from theadditional information extracting unit 520. The storage devicedetermines whether a receiving device that has requested transfer of theoriginal contents, has access rights to the original contents, todetermine whether to transfer the original contents or not.

As described above, the access rights to the original contents may berestricted, for example, by encoding location information of theoriginal contents stored in the metadata and granting an encoding keythat can be decoded only by an authorized user, as original contentsaccess rights information. According to another example, the storagedevice storing the original contents may have a list of user IDs ordevice IDs that have access rights to the original contents; and when arequest for access to original rights is made, the storage device mayallow or prohibit a request for access to original contents bydetermining whether the request is made by a user or a device listed onthe list, to thereby selectively provide the original contents.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, in step 710, original contents are stored in apredetermined storage device. As described above, the storage device maypreferably be a storage device that can be accessed via a network suchas NAS.

In step 720, the original content modifying unit 211 of the contentproviding device 210 modifies attributes of the original contents togenerate modified contents. As described above, when uploading contentsto a webpage, a capacity of the original contents is reduced byconsidering a size of an attachment file supported by the webpage. Also,the content providing device 210 processes the original contents to bein an appropriate format for the content receiving device 220 inconsideration of a storage capacity or a resolution of the contentreceiving device 220 to generate modified contents.

In step 730, the metadata generating unit 212 generates metadataincluding at least location information of the original contents. Thelocation information refers to an access route of the storage device, inwhich the original contents are stored, on a network, and may be a URLformat as described above.

In step 740, the modified contents and metadata are provided to otherdevices that are interconnected via the network by using the contentproviding unit 213.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a content receiving method accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, in step 810, predetermined contents are providedfrom other devices interconnected via a network by using the contentreceiving unit 510.

In step 820, the additional data extracting unit 520 extracts locationinformation of the original contents from the metadata of the contents.

In step 830, the content receiving unit 530 requests a storage devicethat stores the original contents to transfer the original contents byusing the extracted location information of the original contents, andreceives the original contents from the storage device.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a process in which originalcontents are provided in a contents sharing system, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, in step 941, original contents are stored in astorage device 920 that is accessible via a network. Also, in step 942,the original contents are provided to a content providing device 910. Instep 943, information about a content receiving device 930, for example,a storage capacity or a resolution of the content receiving device 930,is additionally provided to the content providing device 910.

In step 944, the content providing device 910 modifies the originalcontents to a suitable format for the content receiving device 930 inconsideration of the storage capacity or the resolution information ofthe content receiving device 930. For example, image contents areresized in consideration of the storage capacity and the resolution ofthe content receiving device 930, and video contents are transcoded inconsideration of a playable codec of the content receiving device 930.

In step 945, the content providing device 910 generates metadataincluding location information of the storage device in which theoriginal contents are stored. Then the content providing device 910provides the modified contents and metadata to the content receivingdevice 930 interconnected via a network.

In step 947, the content receiving device 930 extracts from the metadatathe location information of the storage device in which the originalcontents are stored. Then, in step 948, the content receiving device 930request the storage device 920 to provide the original contents. In step949, the storage device 920 compares a user ID or a device ID that isallowed to access the original contents with a user ID or a device ID ofthe content receiving device 930 that has requested the originalcontents so as to determine whether the request is made by a device thathas access rights to the original contents. When the user ID or deviceID is that of a user or a device having proper access rights, thestorage device 920 provides the original contents to the contentsreceiving device 930 in step 950.

According to the present invention, convenience of accessing originalcontents may be increased by using the metadata of the contents.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a content sharing system thatoperates via a network, according to another embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the content sharing system includes a contentproviding device 1010 and a content receiving device 1030 that areinterconnected via a predetermined network 1020.

The content providing device 1010 includes a content storing unit 1011,a content modifying unit 1012, a device information storing unit 1013,and a communication unit 1014.

The contents storing unit 1011 stores contents data that is to beprovided to the content receiving device 1030.

The communication unit 1014 receives device status information of thecontent receiving device 1030 from the content receiving device 1030,and the received device status information is stored in the deviceinformation storing unit 1013.

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an example of device status informationof a content receiving device, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the device status information includes informationabout device performance such as a resolution and a storage capacity ofthe content receiving device, and audio/video formats supported by thecontent receiving device, or the like. As illustrated in FIG. 11, usersetup information that is set by the user beforehand may be additionallyincluded in the device status information. For example, referring tostatus information of a first device from among content receivingdevices interconnected via a network, a resolution of the first deviceis 640.times.480, and a storage capacity thereof, which refers toresidual capacity/total storage capacity, is 20 GB among the total of500 GB. Also, the device status information of the first deviceindicates that the first device supports codecs of DivX, MPEG-4, andJPEG. Also, a resolution of 320.times.240 and a DivX codec are set bythe user as attributes of contents to be received by the first device.The user setup information may be stored in the device statusinformation in advance and then transferred or may be set by the user inreal-time via a user interface 1033 of the contents receiving device1030, as in FIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 10 again, the content modifying unit 1012 obtainsperformance and user setup information of a current device which is toreceive contents, by using status information of devices stored in thedevice information storing unit 1013, and modifies attributes of thecontents stored in the content storing unit 1011 to be suitable for thecontent receiving device 1030. For example, it is assumed that the firstdevice illustrated in FIG. 11 is a current content receiving device, andthe contents being provided is a video file that has a resolution of800.times.600 and is encoded by an H.264 codec. In this case, thecontent modifying unit 1012 modifies the resolution of the video filestored in the content storing unit 1011 to 640.times.480 according tothe resolution of the first device or to 320.times.240 according to theuser setup information, and modifies the attributes of the video file bytranscoding the H.264 codec which is not supported by the first deviceto a DivX codec or an MPEG4 codec that is supported by the first deviceor by transcoding to a DivX codex according to the user setupinformation. The contents modified by the content modifying unit 1012 istransmitted to the content receiving device 1030 interconnected via thenetwork 1020, via the communication unit 1014. Also, alternatively, thecontent modifying unit 1012 may modify the attributes of contents byresizing the contents into a format that can be received by the contentreceiving device 1030 in consideration of a size of the contents to betransmitted and a residual storage space of the content receiving device1030.

The content receiving device 1030 includes the communication unit 1031,the storing unit 1032, the user interface 1033, and a control unit 1034.

The user interface 1033 corresponds to an input unit that allows a userto display a list of contents provided by the content providing device1010 and to select contents and attributes of the contents the userwants to receive.

The communication unit 1031 transmits contents information and statusinformation of the content receiving device 1030 selected via the userinterface 1033 to the content providing device 1010. The storage unit1032 stores the contents received from the content providing device1010, and the control unit 1034 controls each of elements of thecontents receiving device 1030.

FIGS. 12A through 12D illustrate a process in which contents arereceived according to device status information of a content receivingdevice, according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 12Aand 12D illustrate a mobile communication terminal 1200 as a contentreceiving device that supports a network connection. Also, videocontents are described as the contents being received by the mobilecommunication terminal 1200 in FIGS. 12A through 12D.

Referring to FIG. 12A, when the mobile communication terminal 1200 whichsupports the network connection is connected to a content providingdevice via a network such as Wi-Fi, 3G, etc., the content providingdevice provides a contents list of contents 1211 through 1214 to adisplay unit 1210 of the mobile communication terminal 1200. The userselects one of the contents 1211 through 1214 via a predetermined inputunit 1230 or by touching an area displaying desired contents if themobile communication terminal 1200 supports touch recognition. Referringto FIG. 12B, when contents are selected by the user, an input window1215 that inquires whether to receive the contents are displayed on thedisplay unit 1210, and the user selects whether to receive the contentsvia the input unit 1230 or a selection interface 1216 or 1217.

Referring to FIG. 12C, when the user selects to receive contents, aninput window 1221 for selecting a resolution of the contents to bereceived is displayed on the display unit 1210. The user selects aresolution of the contents to be received, via the input unit 1230 or bytouching an area displaying a desired resolution.

Referring to FIG. 12D, after the user has selected the resolution of thecontents, an input window 1222 for selecting a codec of the contents tobe received, is displayed on the display unit 1210. The user may selecta codec of the contents to be received, via the input unit 1230 or bytouching an area displaying a desired codec.

As illustrated in FIGS. 12A through 12D, user setup informationdetermined according to the selection by the user in the contentreceiving device is transmitted to the content providing device, and thecontent providing device may determine attributes of the contentsaccording to the user setup information as described above to therebyprovide the modified contents to the content receiving device. Also,when there is no user setup information or the user has automaticallyselected contents transfer, the content providing device may modify theattributes of the contents to be suitable for the performance of thecontent receiving device to provide modified contents.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a content providing method accordingto another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, in step 1310, the content providing device 1010obtains device status information of the content receiving device 1030.As described above, the device status information may include aresolution available in the content receiving device 1030, a residualcapacity of the content receiving device 1030, and a file codecsupported by the content receiving device 1030.

In step 1320, the content providing device 1010 modifies attributes ofcontents provided to the content receiving device 1030 by using thedevice status information of the content receiving device 1030.

In step 1330, the content providing device 1010 provides the modifiedcontents to the content receiving device 1030 via a network.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a content receiving method accordingto another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 14, in step 1410, contents to be received are selectedamong contents provided by the content providing device 1010 via theuser interface 1033 of the content receiving device 1030.

In step 1420, the content receiving device 1030 transmits device statusinformation thereof to the content providing device 1020.

In step 1430, the content providing device 1010 modifies attributes ofcontents to be suitable for the content receiving device 1030 by usingthe received device status information and transmits the modifiedcontents to the content receiving device 1030, and the content receivingdevice 1030 receives the modified contents.

According to the present invention, by providing contents that aresuitable for the performance of the contents receiving device or usersetup information, compatibility of the contents may be improved, andconvenience in use of the contents may be improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a backup apparatus according to the presentinvention are described in detail. The terms “storage device” usedherein refers to any data storage device ranging from exclusive storagedevices, such as hard disks, memory, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, HD-DVDs, andholographic recording media, to devices such as PC, notebooks, netbooks,camcorders, mobile communication terminals, HMS (Home Media Servers),and PVR (Personal Video Recorders), capable of storing data transferredfrom another device connected via a network.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view illustrating a data backup system 1500 forbacking up data via a network, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 15, the data backup system 1500 includes a dataproviding device 1510, a first storage device 1520 and a second storagedevice 1502 that are interconnected via a network 1540. Although notshown, the data backup system 1500 may further include a plurality ofstorage devices, in addition to the first storage device 1520 and thesecond storage device 1530.

The data providing device 1510 may be any of a variety of devicessupporting various types of wired or wireless networks 1540, forexample, a PMP, a UMPC, a netbook, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, adigital camera, a PVR, an HMS, or a PC. The data providing device 1510,the first storage device 1520 and the second storage device 1530 mayeach be a client device configuring a home network system connected to acontroller such as a home gate or a home server. For example, the dataproviding device 1510, the first storage device 1520 and the secondstorage device 1530 may be devices interconnected via the network 1540complying with a DLNA standard for control home electronic appliances toshare data.

The network 1540 comprises one of a short-distance network and along-distance network. The network 1540 may use a wireless Internetscheme such as Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, WiBro, UWB, or the like, or a wiredInternet scheme such as IEEE 1394, Ethernet, or the like.

The first storage device 1520 and the second storage device 1530 storedata provided by the data providing device 1510. The first storagedevice 1520 and the second storage device 1530 may be any storagedevices, including exclusive storage devices such as hard disks, memory,and NAS devices, and secondary storage devices having additionalfunctions to store data transferred via a network from another deviceconnected thereto. Examples of secondary storage devices include PC,notebooks, netbooks, camcorders, mobile communication terminals, HMS,and PVR.

The data providing device 1510 transfers data stored for backup to thefirst storage device 1520 and the second storage device 1530 via thenetwork 1540. The data providing device 1510 may select a storage devicefor backing up data from among the first storage device 1520 and thesecond storage device 1530 connected via the network 1540.Alternatively, a management server of the network 1540 may determine theavailability of the first storage device 1520 and the second storagedevice 1530 to select a storage device for backing up data. Anembodiment in which data is backed up when the first storage device 1520is unavailable to store backup data, will now be described.

According to the present invention, if the first storage device 1520 isunavailable to back up data, for example, when a residual storagecapacity of the first storage device 1520 is insufficient to store thedata so that the first storage 1500 cannot store the data transferredfrom the data providing device 1510, the data backup system 1520 maystore the data in the second storage device 1530 connected via thenetwork 1540, and may transfer the data stored in the second storagedevice 1530 to the first storage device 1520 when the first storagedevice 1520 becomes available to back up data, for example, by deletionof data stored in the first storage device 1520.

The data backup process may be controlled by the data providing device1510, the management server of the network 1540, the first storagedevice 1520, and the second storage device 1530. Hereinafter,embodiments of controlling the data backup process by the devicesconstituting the data backup system 1500 will be described in detail.

FIG. 16 illustrates the structure of a data backup system 1600 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 also illustrates ablock diagram of a server 1620 of a network that controls a data backupprocess. Referring to FIG. 16, a data providing device 1610 may be amobile communication terminal. Storage devices 1630, 1640, and 1650 mayinclude a TV, a PC, and a PVR, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 16, the server 1620 includes a communication unit1621, a buffer 1622, and a backup control unit 1623. The communicationunit 1621 receives backup data provided by the data providing device1610 connected via the network. The received backup data may betemporarily stored in the buffer 1622. The backup control unit 1623determines the availability of the storage devices 1630-1940 connectedvia the network to store the backup data. The server 1620 may bespontaneously notified by the storage devices 1630-1650 about theiravailability to store the backup data. Alternatively, if the dataproviding device 1610 requests data backup, the backup control unit 1623may determine the availability of the storage devices 1630-1650 to storethe backup data by requesting and receiving information about theavailability of the storage devices 1630-1650 via the communication unit1621.

The backup control unit 1623 of the server 1620 selects one of storagedevices 1630-1650 to which the backup data is to be transferred, basedon the availability of the storage devices 1630-1650 to store the backupdata.

As an example, it is assumed that the first storage device 1630 is acentral storage device to store backup data transferred via the networkand has an insufficient residual capacity to store the backup data. Inthis case, the backup control unit 1623 may select one of the secondstorage device 1640 and the third storage device 1650 available to storethe backup data via the network, and may control the buffer 1622 and thecommunication unit 1621 to transfer the backup data stored in the buffer1622 to the selected storage device. Alternatively, instead ofcontrolling selection of one of a plurality of available storage devicesand transfer of the backup data, the backup control unit 1623 may dividethe backup data based on the residual capacities of the availablestorage devices and store the backup data in the available storagedevices in a distributed manner. For example, if the residual capacitiesof the second storage device 1640 and the third storage device 1650 are20 GB and 40 GB, respectively, and the backup data has a size of 60 GB,the backup control unit 1623 may control the backup operation to dividethe backup data of 60 GB into 20 GB and 40 GB data units and store thedivided backup data units in the second storage device 1640 and thethird storage device 1650 in a distributed manner.

After storage of the backup data is completed, the backup control unit1623 periodically communicates with the first storage device 1630 toperiodically check the availability of the first storage device 1630 tostore the backup data. If the residual capacity of the first storagedevice 1630 is increased to make it available for backup, for example,by deletion of data stored in the first storage device 1630, the backupcontrol unit 1623 may control the backup operation to transfer thebackup data stored in the second storage device 1640 or the thirdstorage device 1650 to the first storage device 1630 and store thebackup data in the storage device 1630. If the transfer and storage ofthe backup data in the first storage device 1630 is completed, thebackup data temporarily stored in the second storage device 1640 or thethird storage device 1650 due to the insufficient residual capacity ofthe first storage device 1630 may be deleted.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating a data backup process by anetwork server of a data backup system, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 17, in step 1750 a data providing device 1710 providesbackup data to a server 1720. The server 1720 may request informationabout the availability of a first storage device 1730 and a secondstorage device 1740, connected via a network, to store the backup data.Alternatively, the first storage device 1730 may spontaneously notifythe server 1720 that the first storage device 1730 is unavailable tostore the backup data in step 1751. The second storage device 1740 mayspontaneously notify the server 1720 that the second storage device 1740is available to store the backup data in step 1752.

In step 1753 the server 1720 selects a storage device to store thebackup data based on the availability of the first and second storagedevices 1730 and 1740. The embodiment of FIG. 17 assumes that the firststorage device 1730 is unavailable to store the backup data and thesecond storage device 1740 is available to store the backup data.

In step 1754 the server 1720 transfers the backup data to the availablesecond storage device 1740. In step 1755 the second storage device 1740stores the transferred backup data.

After the storage of the backup data in the second storage device 1740is completed, in step 1756 the server 1720 periodically requests to benotified about the availability of the first storage device 1730 tostore backup data. In step 1757 the first storage device 1730 notifiesthe server 1720 that the first storage device 1730 is available to storethe backup data if the residual capacity of the first storage device1730 is increased, for example, by deletion of data previously stored inthe first storage device 1730.

If the first storage device 1730 is available to store the backup data,in step 1758 the server 1720 requests the second storage device 1740 totransfer the backup data to the first storage device 1730. In step 1759the second storage device 1740 transfers the backup data to the firststorage device 1730. In step 1760 the first storage device 1730 storesthe transferred backup data. In step 1761 the backup data temporarilystored in the second storage device 1740 prior to being transferred tothe first storage device 1730 is deleted from the second storage device1740.

FIG. 18 illustrates the structure of a data backup system according toanother embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 18 includes a blockdiagram of a data providing device 1800 that controls data backup.

Referring to FIG. 18, the data providing device 1800 includes acommunication unit 1810, a storing unit 1820, and a control unit 1830.The communication unit 1810 transfers backup data to be stored in thestoring unit 1820 to a plurality of storage devices 1850, 1860 and 1870.The control unit 1830 determines the availability of the storage devices1850-1870 connected via the network, to store the backup data. Theavailability of the storage devices 1850-1870 may be previously notifiedby the storage devices 1850-1870 about the availability of the storagedevices 1850-1870 to store the backup data. Alternatively, the controlunit 1830 of the data providing device 1800 may determine theavailability of the storage devices 1850-1870 by requesting andreceiving information about the availability of the storage devices1850-1870 via the communication unit 1810.

The control unit 1830 of the data providing device 1800 selects one ofstorage devices 1850-1970 to which the backup data is to be transferred,based on the availability of the storage devices 1850-1870 to store thebackup data.

As described above, it is assumed that the first storage device 1850 isa central storage device for storing backup data transferred via thenetwork and has a residual capacity insufficient to store the backupdata. In this case, the control unit 1830 may select one of the secondstorage device 1860 and the third storage device 1870 available to storethe backup data via the network, and may control the storing unit 1820and the communication unit 1810 to transfer the backup data stored inthe storing unit 1820 to the selected storage device. Alternatively,instead of controlling selection of one of a plurality of availablestorage devices and transfer of the backup data to the selected storagedevice, the control unit 1830 may divide the backup data based on theresidual capacities of the available storage devices and store thebackup data in the available storage devices in a distributed manner.

After storage of the backup data is completed, the control unit 1830periodically communicates with the first storage device 1850 toperiodically check the availability of the first storage device 1850 tostore the backup data. If the residual capacity of the first storagedevice 1850 is increased to make it available for backup, for example,by deletion of data stored in the first storage device 1850, the controlunit 1830 may control the backup operation to transfer the backup datastored in the second storage device 1860 or the third storage device1870 to the first storage device 1850 and store the backup data in thefirst storage device 1850. If the transfer and storage of the backupdata in the first storage device 1850 is completed, the backup datastored in the second storage device 1860 or the third storage device1870 due to the insufficient residual capacity of the first storagedevice 1850 may be deleted.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a data backup process by a dataproviding device 1910 of a data backup system, according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 19, in step 1941data providing device 1910 requests a first storage device 1920 to storebackup data. In step 1942 the first storage device 1920 compares thesize of the backup data and an available residual capacity of the firststorage device 1920 to check the availability of the first storagedevice 1920 to store the backup data. If the first storage device 1920is unavailable to store the backup data due to, for example, aninsufficient residual capacity, in step 1943 the first storage device1920 notifies the data providing device 1910 about that the firststorage device 1920 is unavailable to store the backup data. In step1944 the data providing device 1910 requests another storage device,i.e., the second storage device 1930, connected via the network to storethe backup data. In step 1945 the second storage device 1930 comparesthe size of the backup data and an available residual capacity of thesecond storage device 1930 to check the availability of the secondstorage device 1930 to store the backup data. If the second storagedevice 1930 is available to store the backup data, in step 1946 thesecond storage device 1930 notifies the data providing device 1910 aboutthe availability of the second storage device 1930 to store the backupdata. In step 1947 the data providing device 1910 transfers the backupdata to the second storage device 1930. In step 1948 the second storagedevice 1930 stores the transferred backup data.

After the storage of the backup data in the second storage device 1930is completed, in step 1949 the data providing device 1910 periodicallyrequests to be notified about the availability of the first storagedevice 1920 to store backup data. In step 1950 the first storage device1920 notifies the data providing device 1910 about that the firststorage device 1920 is available to store the backup data since theresidual capacity of the first storage device 1920 is increased, forexample, by deletion of the data stored in the first storage device1920.

If the first storage device 1920 is available to store the backup data,in step 1951 the data providing device 1910 requests the second storagedevice 1930 to transfer the backup data to the first storage device1920. In step 1952 the second storage device 1930 transfers the backupdata to the first storage device 1920. In step 1953 the first storagedevice 1920 stores the transferred backup data. In step 1954 the backupdata stored in the second storage device 1930 prior to being transferredto the first storage device 1920 is deleted from the second storagedevice 1930.

FIG. 20 illustrates the structure of a data backup system according toan embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 20 also illustrates a blockdiagram of storage devices 2030 and 2040 that controls the data backupprocess.

Referring to FIG. 20, the first storage unit 2030 includes a firstcommunication unit 2031, a first storing unit 2032, and a first controlunit 2033. The second storage unit 2040 includes a second communicationunit 2042, a second storing unit 2042, and a second control unit 2043.Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the first storing device 2030 isunavailable to backup data, and the second storage unit 2040 isavailable to backup data will be described in detail.

The first communication unit 2031 communicates with a data providingdevice 2010 and a second storage unit 2040 via a network 2020. If thedata providing device 2010 requests data backup, the first control unit2033 compares an available residual capacity of the first storing unit2032 and a size of the backup data and controls the first communicationunit 2031 to notify the data providing device 2010 whether the firststoring unit 2032 is available to store the backup data. As describedabove in the previous embodiment, if the first storage unit 2032 has aninsufficient residual capacity and is unavailable to store the backupdata, the first communication unit 2031 notifies the data providingdevice 2010 about the unavailability of the first storing unit 2032 tostore the backup data.

If the first storage device 2030 is unavailable to store the backupdata, the data providing device 2010 requests the second storage device2040 to store the backup data. A second control unit 2043 of the secondstorage device 2040 compares an available residual capacity of thesecond storing unit 2042 and a size of the backup data and controls thesecond communication unit 2041 to notify the data providing device 2010whether the second storing unit 2042 is available or not to store thebackup data. As described in the previous embodiment, the fact that thesecond storing unit 2042 has a sufficient residual capacity to store thebackup data is notified to the data providing device 2010. When the dataproviding device 2010 is notified about the availability of the secondstoring unit 2042 to store the backup data, the data providing device2010 transfers the backup data to the second communication unit 2041.

The backup data is transferred via the second communication unit 2041and stored in the second storing unit 2042. After the storage of thebackup data is completed, the second control unit 2043 periodicallycommunicates with the first storage device 2030 to periodically checkthe availability of the first storage device 2030 to store the backupdata. If the residual capacity of the first storage device 2030 isincreased to make it available for backup, for example, by deletion ofdata stored in the first storing unit 2032, the second control unit 2043may control the backup operation to transfer the backup data stored inthe second storing unit 2042 to the first storing unit 2032 and storethe backup data in the first storage device 2030. If the transfer of thebackup data to the first storage device 2030 is completed, the secondcontrol unit 2043 deletes the backup data that had been stored in thesecond storing unit 2042. If the backup data stored in the secondstorage device 2040 is transferred and stored in the first storagedevice 2030, the first control unit 2033 of the first storage device2030 or the second control unit 2043 of the second storage device 2040may control the communication unit to notify the data providing device2010 about the transfer of the backup data from the second storagedevice 2040 to the first storage device 2030 in order for the dataproviding device 2010 to check a storage location of the backup data.The first control unit 2033 of the first storage device 2030 or thesecond control unit 2043 of the second storage device 2040 may provideother storage devices connected via the network with a list of datastored in the first storage device 2030 or the second storage device2040 in order to prevent overlapping storage of identical data indifferent storage devices connected via the network.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram illustrating a data backup process by astorage device of a data backup system, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 21, in step 2141 a data providing device 2110 requestsa first storage device 2120 to store backup data. In step 2142 the firststorage device 2120 compares the size of the backup data and anavailable residual capacity of the first storage device 2120 to checkthe availability of the first storage device 2120 to store the backupdata. If the first storage device 2120 is unavailable to store thebackup data due to, for example, an insufficient residual capacity, instep 2143 the first storage device 2110 notifies the data providingdevice 2110 that the first storage device 2110 is unavailable to storethe backup data. In step 2144 the data providing device 2110 requestsanother storage device, i.e., the second storage device 2130, connectedvia the network, to store the backup data. In step 2145 the secondstorage device 2130 compares the size of the backup data and anavailable residual capacity of the second storage device 2130 to checkthe availability of the second storage device 2130 to store the backupdata. If the second storage device 2130 is available to store the backupdata, in step 2146 the second storage device 2130 notifies the dataproviding device 2110 about the availability of the second storagedevice 2130 to store the backup data. In step 2147 the data providingdevice 2110 transfers the backup data to the second storage device 2130.In step 2148 the second storage device 2130 stores the transferredbackup data.

After the storage of the backup data in the second storage device 2130is completed, in step 2149 the second storage device 2130 periodicallyrequests to be notified about the availability of the first storagedevice 2120 to store the backup data. In step 2150 the first storagedevice 2120 notifies the second storage device 2130 about that the firststorage device 2120 is available to store the backup data since theresidual capacity of the first storage device 2120 is increased, forexample, by deletion of the data stored in the first storage device2120.

If the first storage device 2120 is available to store the backup data,in step 2152 the second storage device 2130 transfers the backup data tothe first storage device 2130. In step 2153 the first storage device2120 stores the transferred backup data. In step 2154 the backup datastored in the second storage device 2130 prior to being transferred tothe first storage device 2120 is deleted from the second storage device2130.

FIG. 22 illustrates the structure of a data providing device 2200according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 22, the data providing device 2200 includes acommunication unit 2210, a storing unit 2220, a data conversion unit2230, and a control unit 2240.

The communication unit 2210 transfers backup data stored in the storingunit 2220 to a plurality of storage devices 2260, 2270 and 2280 via anetwork 2250.

The data providing device 2200 may back up data to the storage devices2260, 2270 and 2280 connected via the network 2250 in a similar manneras the data backup processes of the data providing devices 1800 and 1910described above with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19. Thus, a detaileddescription of a data backup process by the data providing device 2200will not provided herein

However, in the data providing device 2200 of FIG. 22, if storage of thebackup data to at least one of the storage devices 2060-2080 connectedvia the network 2250 in a distributed manner is completed, the dataconversion unit 2230 may generate metadata about the storage location ofthe backup data and may store the original data stored in the storingunit 2220 via compression conversion.

For example, if the data providing device 2200 is a digital camera,after completion of storing backup data of original image data capturedby the digital providing apparatus 2200 in at least one of the storagedevices 2260-2280 in a distributed manner, the data conversion unit 2230may convert the original image data to thumbnail images, and theconverted thumbnail images are stored in the storing unit 2220 insteadof the original image and the original image may be deleted from thedata providing device 2200. The data conversion unit 2230 may generatemetadata from the location information, such as a URL, of the storagedevice storing the original image data and may store the metadatatogether with the thumbnail images. If the original image data isrequired later, the thumbnail images and the metadata of the originalimage data, which correspond to the location information of the originalimage data, may be used to acquire the original image data from thestorage device in which the original image data is backed up. Althoughin the current embodiment the data conversion unit 2230 converts thebackup data into thumbnail form, the data conversion unit 2230 mayconvert the original data in various forms, for example, by compressionconversion to increase the utilization efficiency of the storage spaceof the storing unit 2220.

According to the present invention, when a storage device connected to anetwork is unavailable to store backup data, data may be efficientlybacked up to other storage devices connected to the network. Convenienceof access to the original contents may be improved by using metadata ofthe contents. By providing contents that are suitable for theperformance of the contents receiving device, compatibility of thecontents may be improved.

The embodiments of the present invention can be written as computerprograms that can be executed in computers, and can be implemented ingeneral-use digital computers that execute the programs using a computerreadable recording medium. Examples of the computer readable recordingmedium include magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disks, harddisks, etc.), optical recording media (e.g., CD-ROMs, or DVDs), etc.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those ofordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims. The embodiments should beconsidered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined not by thedetailed description of the invention but by the appended claims, andall modifications within the scope will be construed as being includedin the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing content, the methodcomprising: storing an original content file at a location andinformation identifying users having access rights to the originalcontent file stored at the location; outputting content informationoriginating from the original content file, access information forallowing an authorized user to access the original content file storedat the location, and location information for identifying the locationat which the original content file is stored; receiving a request forthe original content file from an external device used by a user,wherein the request is based on the location information and the accessinformation for allowing the authorized user to access the originalcontent file stored at the location; and determining whether to providethe original content file as a response to the request, based on therequest for the original content file and the information identifyingusers having access rights to the original content file stored at thelocation.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the content informationcomprises a modified content file generated from the original contentfile.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the original content filecomprises image content, and wherein the modified content file comprisesimage content having a resolution lower than a resolution of the imagecontent of the original content file.
 4. The method of claim 2, whereinthe modified content file has a file size smaller than a file size ofthe original content file.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the contentinformation comprises content identification information.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the location information comprises a uniformresource locator (URL).
 7. An electronic device comprising: a memorystoring instructions; and a processor configured to execute the storedinstructions to: control to store an original content file at a locationand information identifying users having access rights to the originalcontent file stored at the location; control to output contentinformation originating from the original content file, accessinformation for allowing an authorized user to access the originalcontent file stored at the location, and location information foridentifying the location at which the original content file is stored;control to receive a request for the original content file from anexternal device, wherein the request is based on the locationinformation and the access information for allowing the authorized userto access the original content file stored at the location; anddetermine whether to provide the original content file as a response tothe request, based on the request for the original content and theinformation identifying users having access rights to the originalcontent file stored at the location.
 8. The electronic device of claim7, wherein the content information comprises a modified content filegenerated from the original content file.
 9. The electronic device ofclaim 8, wherein the original content file comprises image content, andwherein the modified content file comprises image content having aresolution lower than a resolution of the image content of the originalcontent file.
 10. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the modifiedcontent file has a file size smaller than a file size of the originalcontent file.
 11. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the contentinformation comprises content identification information.
 12. Theelectronic device of claim 7, wherein the location information comprisesa uniform resource locator (URL).
 13. A non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium having embodied thereon a program, which when executedby a processor of an electronic device causes the electronic device toexecute a method of providing content, the method comprising: storing anoriginal content file at a location and information identifying usershaving access rights to the original content file stored at thelocation; outputting content information originating from the originalcontent file, access information for allowing an authorized user toaccess the original content file stored at the location, and locationinformation for identifying the location at which the original contentfile is stored; receiving a request for the original content file froman external device used by a user, wherein the request is based on thelocation information and the access information for allowing theauthorized user to access the original content file stored at thelocation; and determining whether to provide the original content fileas a response to the request, based on the request for the originalcontent file and the information identifying users having access rightsto the original content file stored at the location.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer-readable recording medium of claim 13, whereinthe content information comprises a modified content file generated fromthe original content file.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium of claim 14, wherein the original content filecomprises image content, and wherein the modified content file comprisesimage content having a resolution lower than a resolution of the imagecontent of the original content file.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium of claim 14, wherein the modifiedcontent file has a file size smaller than a file size of the originalcontent file.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable recording mediumof claim 13, wherein the content information comprises contentidentification information.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium of claim 13, wherein the location information comprisesa uniform resource locator (URL).
 19. A method of providing content, themethod comprising: controlling to store an original content file at alocation and information identifying users having access rights to theoriginal content file stored at the location; controlling to outputcontent information originating from the original content file, accessinformation for allowing an authorized user to access the originalcontent file stored at the location, and location information foridentifying the location at which the original content file is stored;controlling to receive a request for the original content file from anexternal device used by a user, wherein the request is based on thelocation information and the access information for allowing theauthorized user to access the original content file stored at thelocation; and controlling to determine whether to provide the originalcontent file as a response to the request, based on the request for theoriginal content file and the information identifying users havingaccess rights to the original content file stored at the location. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the content information comprises amodified content file generated from the original content file.
 21. Themethod of claim 20, wherein the original content file comprises imagecontent, and wherein the modified content file comprises image contenthaving a resolution lower than a resolution of the image content of theoriginal content file.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the modifiedcontent file has a file size smaller than a file size of the originalcontent file.
 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the contentinformation comprises content identification information.
 24. The methodof claim 19, wherein the location information comprises a uniformresource locator (URL).